Chapter 665 The Final Blow

Yunice said nothing more and hung up.

Taylor was someone who valued love. She believed true love existed – and maybe, just maybe, she had found it.

Yunice stared at the blackboard covered in dense notes. The professor’s mouth kept moving, but none of it registered. Her mind kept replaying Wyatt’s recording.

So he had set his sights on her that early…

The beating in the hall lasted a full thirty minutes, but those men still held back just enough not to kill Paul. They didn’t want his life. They wanted their money.

When the mob finally scattered, Paul dragged his bruised and battered body away like a rat, panicked and filthy.

As he fled, he stole clothes off laundry lines to change his appearance, always watching his back.

He knew someone would be watching. Some wanted to humiliate him. Others wanted a piece of what was left. Whatever the reason, he couldn’t get caught.

Only after looping through alleys and changing several times did he step into a convenience store, his face smeared with ash. He tossed a ten onto the counter and grabbed the store’s landline.

The first number didn’t go through.

“Bitch,” he muttered, and angrily dialed a second.

It connected.

Nora’s voice came through, low and even. “Go to building thirty-four.”

Paul hissed, “I look like roadkill out here. No car, no backup, and you want me to walk to thirty-four?”

“It’s not that I won’t come pick you up,” Nora replied. “It’s that you’re the bait. Taylor let you escape on purpose. She knows with the world against you, the first person you’d run to is your ally – me. Right now, someone is tailing you, waiting for me to appear so they can take us both down. As long as I don’t show, you stay free.”

Paul frowned. He wanted to curse her out but had to admit – she had a point.

He glanced around the store. Maybe he was paranoid, but everyone seemed to be watching him.

He lowered his voice. “Just don’t screw me over. If I go down, I’ll drag you with me.”

“I understand,” Nora said.

He slammed the phone down.

Now that he understood Taylor’s angle, he stopped hiding. He wandered openly, dressed like a beggar, spending the whole day meandering through Silverburgh.

And by afternoon, the news of Powell Corporation being shorted had already rocketed to the top of every trending list.

The streets buzzed with news of the Powell family’s collapse.

Business partners scrambled online – either distancing themselves or joining the attacks. Powell Corporation was now a byword for fraud.

People are self-preserving by nature. And now, no one from the Powell family dared to come forward to defend the company.

No one… except Taylor.

Having already won public support by exposing Paul’s lies, she bypassed the family elders and stood alone before the press, speaking on behalf of Powell Corporation.

She said, “As Paul’s wife, I am deeply ashamed of what Powell Corporation has become. But I am not just his wife. Like my father, I am a businesswoman with a conscience. I cannot stand by while my husband lies and exploits others. To prevent the debt from spiraling further, I have chosen to expose him and cut our losses.”

The livestream chat exploded.

“Ms. Taylor is fearless! A true boss! She’s got more guts than the entire Powell clan combined!”

“Make Ms. Taylor the CEO! She’s the only one who deserves it!”

“Whoa, easy there. You want her to take over Powell now? It’s a burning ship – why should she be the one to clean up her scumbag husband’s mess?”

“Exactly. She got cheated on, lied to, and now people want her to inherit the debt too? Give me a break.”

“She shouldn’t owe a dime. If anything, the court should declare her marriage to Paul null and void.”

“If Ms. Taylor ends up having to shoulder Paul’s debt, who the hell would want to get married anymore? I’m not signing up to be someone’s financial backup plan.”